


You're Blushing

by orphan_account



Category: Coco (2017)
Genre: F/M, Fluff, How Do I Tag, Héctor is super in love, I'm trying, Imelda is also in love just less of an obvious idiot, Pre-Canon, Romance, They're cute, almost my first fic but not really, he's doing his best, idk i love these two
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-02
Updated: 2018-04-02
Packaged: 2019-04-17 09:22:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,126
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14185845
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Just a series of pre-canon fluffy bits from the lives of Héctor and Imelda. This is my first fic in a really long time, so forgive me!





	You're Blushing

**Author's Note:**

> Ohhhh jeez, it's been quite awhile since I saw this format. Lets see if I can still write as well as I used to.   
> ANNNNNNYwhosies, this fucking pairing is so cute. I swear to god, they're my new favorite, there's not nearly enough of them out there.   
> This chapter is that weird in-between before they start courting but after Imelda fell for him.

“ _ Ay, cállate!  _ You’re impossible! I let you follow me home like some sort of lost puppy and you chatter the whole way!” Imelda shouted, cutting off some fantastical story of what had happened at Héctors last event. 

“ _ Mi corazón,  _ how cruel you are to a man who loves you!” He said, dramatically, shifting the basket in his arms to clutch over his heart. 

“The man who annoys me, more like.” 

It had been nearly a year since Héctor began his desperate attempt to woo Imelda, and Héctor found that the more time he spent around her, the more she seemed to warm up to him. 

“All men annoy you,” He said with a fake scoff, “And here I was, thinking I was special.” 

He was getting through to her, slowly but surely. She talked to him, now, he could walk her home after a day in town, her family knew him a little, but they weren’t together. This wasn’t courtship, and she still had no particularly strong affection for him that he knew of.

“You’re the only one persistent enough to continue annoying me even after I told you I’m not marrying you.” 

They had reached the front door to her surprisingly quiet house, his shoes carefully kicked off as she opened the door, and he followed behind.

“Am I staying for dinner?” 

“You’re just looking for a free meal,” She said, “We’re not a charity.” 

“Fair point, but I’m leaving tomorrow. I won’t be back for some time,  _ mi sol,  _ it’ll be my last home-cooked meal-”

“Where exactly are you two layabouts going?” She asked, suddenly stopping her slow putting away of vegetables.

“I… Don’t exactly know. Ernesto says he’s got us some gig in a big city, and we’ll hop around on whatever we can afford from there. We’re aiming at six weeks, before we’re back, but who knows what’ll happen?” He admitted awkwardly, leaning back against their kitchen counter and averting his eyes, “Why do you ask?”

She sighed, rubbing her temples, “You know what? I’ll ask Mamá. She says yes, and you can eat all you want.” 

That night, he really did eat his fill, going home with a few extra empanadas the family didn’t finish for Ernesto.

“I guess your courtship with her isn’t  _ pointless- _ ”

“It’s not courtship!” Héctor insisted, “She’s not even interested in me.” 

‘Yeah but she feeds you, and by extension, she feeds me. I can’t complain.” 

Hector flipped over in the small, broken mattress he called a bed, facing the wall, “Go to sleep, Ernesto, it’s late and we’ve got a train in the morning.”

* * *

 

Imelda would never admit it, but after two weeks of carrying heavy baskets up the hill herself in the just-too-warm early summer, she was suddenly very much missing her extra hand to help her. She hated that she missed his chattering on the long walk to her home. She hated that Martín, who she was almost certain had given up on her, started his torrential propositioning again. 

By week four, her friends at the market finally pointed out that she was looking pretty sour.

“You weren’t like this when Héctor was around,” One noted, offhandedly, “Don’t tell me you actually like him? He’s so skinny!” 

“Yeah!” Another said, “And that nose! Imelda, if you’re after one of them, at least go after Ernesto. He’s got a good look to him-” 

“ _ Ay Dios mio! _ You two say this about everyone! I’m not after any of them,  _ especially  _ not Héctor!” 

She’d stomped off back to her home, sweeping floors she’d already cleaned with a newfound disdain for that  _ idiota,  _ Héctor. 

That disdain quickly disappeared at week seven, no sign of Héctor or Ernesto, not even a letter- not that she was expecting one. 

_ That’s it!  _ She thought to herself,  _ That  _ burro  _ and his stupid friend have off and gotten themselves killed. _

She wanted to haughtily think that it served them right, to have run out of money and gotten stuck somewhere else, but she didn’t.

In fact, she was more worried than anything else. How would a couple of idiots like them eat? Where would they sleep? The cities were dangerous, what if they got hurt?

Concern turned to dread when, eight weeks since they left, she was certain the two of them were gone.

And then, that afternoon, the two of them stumbled out of a train with their bags and a gleam in their eyes. 

Ernesto came to the town square to brag, but Héctor ran off without his friend to quickly find Imelda, fiddling nervously with a box in his hand. 

When it turned out she wasn’t in town, he found himself at her front door, still anxious. Willing up the courage from somewhere in his chest, he knocked.

When she answered, the look on her face went from tired, to excited, to absolutely irate fast enough to give him whiplash, as he suddenly was assaulted by a barrage of attacks from a shoe grabbed from near the door. 

“Where were you?” She said, each accusatory word punctuated by a smack of her boot to his chest, “You were supposed to be back weeks ago!” 

“ _ Lo siento! Lo siento!-  _ Ow!- Really! I’m sorry-” 

“You could have written! I thought you ran off and  _ died! _ ”

“You were- Ow!- expecting me to write?” He said, suddenly not so bothered by the shoe repeatedly hitting him.

Her pummeling slowed, and then stopped, “What? Are you crazy?” 

A smile spread across his face, “No, no, I’m certain you just said ‘you could have written’-”

“I don’t know what I said, okay!” Her face was just pink and her arms were crossed defensively. 

He laughed and in the awkward silence after, cleared his throat. “I, uh... got this for you,” The nervousness now clear on his face, “I saw it and thought of you. We made… Significantly more money, this time.” 

She pulled the top off the box and tried not to look surprised at the expensive-looking earrings that sat inside.

“How did yo- How much did this cost?” 

“It was nothing, I just thought you’d like it. You… Eh… Do like it, right?” He said, eyes desperately searching for her approval.

She offered him a slight smile, “Yes, yes, of course.”

“Do you like it enough to feed me tonight?” His smile was small, she found she liked the sheepish genuine feeling that came with his mouth turning up at the edges and his eyes shining with joy. 

But she’d never let him know that. Rolling her eyes and sighing, “Fine, fine.” 

“Gracias, mi cariña!”

“But you’re helping me bring everything back from town.” 

“That was the implication. Anything to spend more time with my beloved-”

“I’m not your anything!” 

“ _ Sí _ , sure, whatever you say.”

**Author's Note:**

> I hope it wasn't too bad >.< it really has been awhile. Criticism is welcome, so feel free to really rip-into this, and pardon me if the Spanish isn't perfect, I'm gonna start hunting for someone who speaks to help, so if you do, shoot me off a message!   
> My tumblr is parttwotriestowrite, but it's pretty bare-bones for now. I'll fix that up eventually, lol


End file.
